SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Zaquan Bryan was one of the top senior football players in the area in 2022. Now, he takes his enormous talents to the frozen tundra of Minnesota.

We were able to catch up with rising star before he left

I’m buying all my clothes from up there,” Bryan said. “I’m buying everything my jackets, my pants, all of it.”

Zaquan was candid when asked if he was prepared for the winter in Minnesota. The three-star recruit expects to sizzle on the field.

“People say the competition in high school and college is very different,” Bryan said. “I’m ready to get up there and experience that type of competition.”

The defensive back smiled and nodded his head when thinking about playing in front of some of the largest crowds college football has to offer at schools like Ohio State—which he will visit on November 18.

“Kind of used to being all four years at Memorial Stadium where it’s not that many people,” Bryan said. “I’m not really prepared for it, but also I am prepared for it. I know how to zone out anything and everything whenever I’m inside those lines.”

This now brings us to why he choose maroon and yellow. With college sports adjusting to players making money from their name, image and likeness, Zaquan said the Gophers focused on football.

“I want to go to Minnesota because I love it,” Bryan said. “They know that I want to come there because I love it. They don’t care about money, NILs. They know that players are going to make money, but they care about the game of football.”

As the future golden gopher prepares to travel almost 1,400 miles from his hometown, he has left a strong legacy at Benedictine. He won back-to-back state titles and in February the Savannah Quarterback Club named him player of the year.

“Me being a leader,” Bryan said, “but also it doesn’t matter where I was at on the field or off the field. Me working hard and setting that example. I know kids are going to follow that example because they want to get to the next level, like how I am.”

Zaquan leaves tomorrow for Minnesota and will move into his residence hall on June 5.